Week in Review: Holy Week (week 27)

This week was spent on learning about the first Easter (Holy week) as we read books on the last days of Jesus.  We have spent time celebrating Advent every December that we feel that is it equally important to recognize God’s love for us that he would sacrifice his only son Jesus to die for our sins.

We began our week by talking about why Easter is more than a holiday.  We talked about Passover

Week in Review: Family fun (week 26)

We have been doing our regular homeschooling studies but focused on our city’s history of FIESTA as part of our unit study.  FIESTA in Spanish means party and people in our city, Fiesta is a tradition rich in the history and culture of our city,   

Here in San Antonio, we have a 10 day celebration known as FIESTA. It started over 100 years ago in 1891 by Ellen Maury Slayden (Mrs. James L.), the

Recycled Craft: Valentine Wreath

Many of my friends know that when I receive flowers, I dry them and use them in crafts. They also know as a family we try to recycle materials we have in our home instead of tossing them in the trash..so it was no surprise that when my husband gave me flowers last year and in previous years that I would use them to make a wreath.Materials:- Dried Flowers or Artificial flowers- an old bed sheet

Groundhog Day (Ideas for teaching)

February 2 is a Groundhog day.Punxsutawney Phil is the world's smallest and furriest weather forecaster and the 2nd of February is his day! On Groundhog Day, it is said that if the groundhog sees his shadow, there will be six more weeks of bad weather, and if he doesn't, that spring will be here soon. The legend of Groundhog Day is based on an old Scottish couplet: "If Candlemas Day is bright

Martin Luther King Jr (Ideas for teaching)

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” ~Martin Luther King~ Wouldn’t it be terrible? Wouldn’t it be sad? If just one single color was the color that we had? If everything was purple? Or red? Or blue? Or green? If yellow, pink,

a Happy New Year

Pictured above, one of our New Year's Clock CookiesOur New Year’s eve was spent enjoying food, fun and family. We stayed in to avoid the crowds downtown who were waiting for the city’s fireworks display at midnight. We opted to have a fabulous dinner at home, dance to music, and play games as we waited for the New Year. A few days before New Year’s eve, we had family over. My parents and my

Week in Review: Advent and Winter (weeks 14 - 15)

Dec. 6 to Dec. 17thOur weeks of homeschooling have been light this month as we celebrate Advent. We have not had any wintery weather to date but winter has not officially begun, so we’ll see. During the week of December 6th, we read books on Snowman but we also did family readings from our Bible. Our second Sunday of Advent was spent reading books on Advent and making advent crafts and ornaments

Decorating our tree with handmade ornaments

For years I have always wanted to put up our tree the day after Thanksgiving like some of my sisters and my mom do but that never happens in our home. My husband is from Indiana and his family always picked a tree in the woods and trimmed it on Christmas eve. My family growing up usually had ours up the first week in December.We compromised by agreeing to decorate our tree after my oldest son’s

Our preemie turns 11

Today marked my son's birthday. Our former preemie is now 11 years old! He woke up to find presents waiting for him to open. He got a Gigan and Jet Jaguar figure and assorted Godzilla toys. HIs cake he picked this year was Spiderman. After playing with his toys and watching Godzilla movies, we had his choice of food: he chose Chinese takeout, his favorite.REFLECTIONPictured above my preemie baby

Snowman books and a Snowman ornament craft

I have always had a love for making homemade holiday ornaments. My inspiration came from my mother who would always hang the handmade ornaments we made her as children. No matter how old or worn, my mother proudly smiled at the handmade ornaments on her tree that reminded her of our love for her as children.Each year when we visit my Mom and Dad, looking at her tree is like looking at a family

Cd Advent Wreath for our first Sunday of Advent

This Sunday was the first Sunday of Advent and the boys and I made together our of Advent Wreath from recycled materials. We are known for making recycled holiday crafts and this year is no exception. During Advent our family will be keeping CHRIST in Christmas and sharing the gift of Faith, Hope, Love, and Peace.Family ReadingWe read in our Doubleday Illustrated Children's Bible the story "Time

Celebrating Advent and what it means to us

This Sunday November 28 begins Advent. I look forward to celebrating this season with my children. It a season of waiting, expecting, and hoping. For hundreds of years, Christians have used an Advent wreath to inspire their hopes for the coming of Christ. By lighting candles and reading Bible verses, we are reminded about the meaning of Christ's birth and become more excited about his coming in

Our Nature Pumpkins (carved pumpkins)

Inspired by our Nature study on Trees, last night we decide to carved some of our pie pumpkins with a nature theme to display outside our home this weekend. The boys helped me scoop out the pulp from our pumpkins.We used a picture from the book "Autumn Trees" by Ken Robbins as a guideline for our Leaf carving. I drew in pencil an outline of a leaf and used a small flat head screw driver from an

Cinco de Mayo

This Wednesday is Cinco de Mayo (which in English means 5th of May). It is also called "Batalla de Puebla" which means "the Battle at Puebla." Traditionally, Hispanic families celebrate this day as a Holiday commemoratinig the Mexican victory over the French at Puebla in 1862.

The French army, better equipped and far larger than the Mexican army, had been sent by Napoleon III to conquer Mexico.

HAPPY EARTH DAY

Happy Earth Day my friends!Today marks the 40th anniversary of Earth Day which was started in 1970. We as inhabitants of Earth can all make a difference each day and not just on Earth Day!Please watch and listen to this video by Jordon ChenSource: Earth Protect

What Earth day means to my family

Thursday, April 22nd is Earth day. It marks 40 years since Earth day was created. I was five years old when it started. I do not remember much it then as a child but since being a mother, I have seen some changes.One of the most important things I can do as a parent is teach my children to be caretakers of our planet by learning about Nature and the world around us. When we started our Nature

Earth Day fun

BOOKS to read BULLETIN BOARD IDEASFor a bulletin board make a large earth have each child trace their hands and ask each child one thing they can do on it to save the Earth. Write or help children write it on the hand tracing. Put the hands around the Earth and write "The Future of our Earth is in Our Hands"GROUP ACTIVITIES1. Plant a tree - you can get seedlings from a local nursery (usually for

Easter Blessings

A Blessed Easter to all my friends.He is Risen...!Matthew 28:5-6The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said.

About St. Patrick

This week we have been reading about St. Patrick and found out about his life and devotion to God. We were surprised to learn that St. Patrick was not born Ireland but in the British Isles around the year 385. He grew up as a Roman. There was not much written about him as a youth and some believe his name was Maewyn Succat.We found out that at the age of 16, he was kidnapped from his home and

A Fine St. Patrick's day and Shamrock craft

Today in honor of St.Patrick's day we read a good story book. We read A Fine St. Patrick's Day by Susan Wojciechowski, illustrated by Tom Curry. In this story, two Irish towns are engaged in an annual St. Patrick's Day decorating competition. The town of Tralah. which has always won, laughs at the town of Tralee when they say that maybe they'll win next year. The St. Patrick's day competition is